The office tower was placed into receivership by its
creditors, accountancy firm and joint receivers Deloitte in
April. Germany's IVG Immobilien, which co-owned the 40-storey
Gherkin with Evans Randall Ltd, filed for insolvency last year
after years of cost overruns and mounting debt.

An icon of London's skyline with its distinctive curved
glass shape which gave it its Gherkin nickname, the skyscraper
was built by reinsurer Swiss Re in 2004 and was sold
to IVG and Evans Randall in 2007 for 600 million pounds ($950
million). It has 50,000 square meters of office space.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"This building is already a London icon that is
distinguished from others in the market, with excellent value
growth potential. We intend to make the building even better and
more desirable through active ownership that will lead to a
range of enhancements that will benefit tenants," Safra said in
a statement.